I was talking with a guy from a company that does the landing gear systems for Boeing A/C. he said that boeing already has plans for a larger A/C than the public known 747x. The new plane is pretty much a full extension of the upper deck on the newer largest 747x family member. Two complete decks instead of the hump only. 3 class seating between 520-600 passengers.

This person works for BF Goodrich. He stated some info on it is public, although I havent seen any. He designs the landing gear systems. The new system that will be produce for this plane is retractable. Its been in the works for a year and a half. Not retractable as far as folding up the wings, but more like a roof, folding within itself, like a acordian.

It would be nice if there was a slightly different design...ie: wing above fuselage, six engines, twin tail etc.. a la An-224.... or at least something visually interesting Airbus flirted with similar design for the A380/A3XX. As it stands the A380 will be interesting at first for the sheer size, but both the A380 and any stretch 747s are not going to be all that attractive visually.

The A380 is not going to flop like the Concorde did. The Concorde was made for political reasons not commercial. The A380 doesn't have a sonic boom, nor does it guzzle gas, nor will it be full with only 108 passengers, nor is it protested by environmentalists.

That is what killed the Concorde.

The A380 is nothing more than a doubled A340.

Horrible project?

No. It's an airliner carrying 555 passengers. About the same size as the 747.

If Boeing makes a 747 with the upper deck stretch out over the entire body length it wouldn't make much since. 747 upper deck is only a sigle isle not a wide body layout. It would only allow 4 seats accross. Does any body know how wide is the current 747 upper deck?

Well despite all the smokescreen that Boeing is putting out, it is obvious that they are working on a VLA project.

But what Alex is saying seems highly unlikely.

I read somewhere about a Blended Wing Design being finalised. But that is just fantasy.

I feel the Boeing response to Airbus A380 would be a derivative of the 747, stretched, re-engined. Mebbe we could even see a 8 engined 747. I remember reading about this somewhere: 8 engines in 4 underwing pods: 2 engines to a pod.

I thnk this was a military project. But mebbe Boeing could come up with something similar for the VLA project.

I think Boeing is testing the waters with the 747X before attempting to build a VLA. If the A3XX/747X become a large success, then they will go ahead. If the A3XX/747X fail, then they will be at no loss.

BTW, remember that the 747 was originally designed to be a large military transport, but the military rejected it, so they fitted it to enter the commercial world.

I do not want to start a discussion here, but:
Please don't mention the A380 together with the B747X.
The A380 has sold over 50 in less then a few months.
The B747X has been rejected by every company it was offered to.
If Boeing wants to stay in the market of VLA, they will have to come up with something more competitive then the B747X.
Maybe the Boeing-Mitsubishi project could be a better idea.

I would like to say that the A380 and 747X are both way ahead of their time. Most of the airlines I would think of that would order it, ordered it. Virgin, Singapore, Qantas, etc. I don't see a very large market here in the US, but there are only few carriers left for it. Emirates(If they haven't ordered any yet), JAL, Cathay Pacific, and that's it. The European airlines aren't going to order them now. Maybe 15-20 years into the future, but not now. I don't believe that there is ANY market for either right now. But the reason this is going on right now is because Airbus and Boeing are competing hard, but it may be tough for Airbus, as they have gotten several government grants for the project, some which might not be given again if this is a huge flop. No one really knows at this time what'll happen, but I believe that it will get around 100 orders, and be over by 2010. Then 5 years later, the market will emerge, and there will be a 'new' A3XX, or A390. The thing that will be hard for Airbus is getting enough customers for three different variants of the A380.

Re:Lowfareair
Emirates is infact one of the launch customers. And I think there's considerable market for a/cs of A380 size, as there are other airlines that could use such a/c besides the ones you've listed above. Korean Air, Asiana Air, British Air, All Nippon and other charter airlines could fill those a/cs easily. But I do agree with you that market for VLA won't be as rosy as Airbus predicts for some time...

Oh great. Now what about the six (I think) airlines who have committed themselves to the A380. Now they're gonna have to move their arses over to Boeing, look at the design and we all have to wait longer to see a SuperJumbo. Fantastic I am so pleased for Boeing.

The 747 upper deck can comfortably handle 5 or 6 abreast economy class seating, 4 abreast is the standard configuration for business class. Of course, being there would be much like being in a narrowbody because of the single aisle... Also, would extending the upper deck any further have an affect on airflow over the fin?

Singapore_Air - I don't quite get what you mean...

"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth." - Bahá'u'lláh

I agree that the market for VLA won't be as huge as predicted by Airbus. I don't see the market needing more than 125 or so of these planes. Singapore airlines is a launch customer, and this company has a reputation of keeping their fleets young. What happens when five or so years down the road after they start operating the A380 and decide to upgrade to newer planes? Who will buy the earlier models when the market has no demand for such huge airplanes? Will Airbus buy them back to sell more A380s, again at a loss? Yes, the A380 has been launched, but I am not sure that selling these planes at such huge discounts was good business practice!!! This practice can make the company bankrupt!!! Granted that they do receive government support, but for how much longer?

What I mean is that the airlines who want to buy the A380 will have to but this Boeing VLA (if this is true). What a waste of time. Of course the Boeing will be better because it knows what Airbus has got and Boeing will improve upon that. Stupid rivalry. Just one superjumbo please, not two.

Could it be that that person was just referring to the so-called NLA Boeing has been studying for a couple of years, which is indeed a 747 with the upper deck stretched all the way back?
This is not exactly something new, it's just something Boeing has been studying. However, they don't seem to be very serious about it, at least not for now...

WRT market size, Airbus estimates a market of about 1200 planes and Boeing about 500. The figure is probably in the middle somewhere - saying the market is only 100 planes is IMO ridiculous, since Airbus already has about 100 orders and options.